biological approach Flashcards
(14 cards)
what are the assumptions of the biological approach
behaviour is affected by biochem, evolution, cns and genetics
what is heredity
this is the process where characteristics are passed through genes
what do genes do
genes carry instructions for a particular trait, psychologists believe intelligence and personality are inherited the same way as height and eye colour.
what is a genotype
individuals genetic makeup that occurs at conception
what is a phenotype
an individuals genetic makeup that can be affected by the enviornment
how do twin studies show that behaviour is genetic
a concordance rate is calculated by seeing the likelihoodness for a MZ twin and DZ twin to share the same characteristic, if it is higher in a MZ twin this shows that behaviour is genetic as MZ twins share the same genotype
what is an example of twin studies
gottesman schizophrenia MZ 48% 17% DZ
how do adoption studies show behaviour is genetic
it examines the concordance rate between an adopted child and their biological parent, if the concordance rate is high it shows behaviour is genetic as the child couldnt have learnt it from their biological parent.
what do biopsychologists believe and human behaviour and evolution
behaviour is passed down from generation to generation, as males compete with others for mates, food,resources those who survive pass their genes
what does natural selection state
any genetically determined behaviour is a result of an innate drive to survive, genetic characteristics that are coded in this individuals will be passed from generation to generation
how is maternal love seen as a genetic behaviour
its a powerful emotion that increases the chance of a womans offspring surviving and passing on their genes
how is mate preference seen as genetic
its adaptive, males prefer women that show signs of fertility and women prefer men that have resources, this shows men can provide for their offspring
how is aggression seen as genetic
its widespread across animals and increases our chance of survival and increase access to resources and territory. an aggressive man is attractive to a female
what is the a03 of the biological approach
produced successful treatments such as ssris,antidepressants- link to sormo et al
uses the scientific method- based on research that establishes cause and effect.
research is partially based on animals, researchers use rats and mice within research so it cant be generalised to humans.
favours nature over nurture. it ignores enviornmental facts that can shapeour behaviour and focuses on biology
supports determinism view over free will- says our behaviour is determined from biology even though people would argue humans have free will.
